Orva had started using drugs as a teenager—to win the acceptance of his peers—and soon addiction ruled his life. He moved around a lot, taking on any kind of labor he could find to pay for drugs and alcohol, cigarettes, and bus tickets to get him from one town to the next. He gratefully accepted food, shelter and clothing from rescue missions along the way.

"I always knew I had a problem," Orva says, and he tried many times to start over. But nothing worked. "Everywhere I went, I took myself with me. And drugs and alcohol were there, too. There was no hope for me the way I was living. I had to get it into my head that if I wanted to change, I had to be willing to do things differently."

Finally, at almost 50, Orva grew tired of packing up and moving on. He came to Northlands Rescue Mission—this time for more than just basic essentials. He asked us to help him change his life.

As with all our homeless guests—men and women down on their luck, ex-inmates struggling to re-enter society, veterans whose skills and experiences don't fit today's job requirements and other weary souls who've lost all hope—we're providing Orva with the building blocks for a stable future: life- and job-skills training, classes in budgeting and goal setting, resources for adult education, and an introduction to the only true source for a meaningful and purposeful life.

"Right now, I'm building a closer relationship with Jesus Christ," Orva says, "and working to find out what He wants in my life. I've quit drinking and doing drugs. Inside me somewhere, I knew there was hope."

Orva says the friends he's made at the Mission in our staff and volunteers have allowed him to see himself differently, too. "The Holy Spirit showed me there are people who really love me and care for me. They're patient with me. They've encouraged me 'hang in there,' to start going to church and looking for a job."

He's also grateful for friends who enable the Mission to be there for him and others. "When you give food, clothing and donations, it helps the people here who don't have anything. So many people want to work, but because of the economy—or maybe they're sick—they can't. They need mercy and grace. Know that when you give, God is going to give back to you!"